LGBTQ

A bipartisan bill would ban Ohio children younger than 18 years old from participating in so-called conversion therapy, the practice of trying to convert someone from gay to straight. 

The Akron Pride Festival is bringing sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the Summit County Courthouse this week. The quilt, which was started 30 years ago, includes the names of 96,000 people who have died from AIDS.

The disease has killed more than 700,000 people the U.S. and nearly 32 million people globally.

A conservative Christian organization and a Catholic school have dropped their lawsuit against an Ohio city for its law protecting against LGBTQ discrimination.

The Alliance Defending Freedom was representing the Lyceum School against South Euclid’s non-discrimination ordinance, which the school said might threaten its teachings on marriage and gender. The school had claimed there were First Amendment issues involved, but the city’s Keith Benjamin says this is a civil rights issue.

Pop-rock duo DreamStates recently released its latest album, “Sad Bad Happy Good”. The 12-track release features multi-instrumentalist Natalie Grace Martin and creative designer Madeline Eckhart sharing vocals over original, rock-and-EDM-inspired beats. 

Some Ohio legislators have been trying for years to add sexual orientation and gender identity or expression into the state’s anti-discrimination law. The bill, known as the “Ohio Fairness Act,” would make those additions a protected class in employment, housing and other public accommodations. 

Right now, a person in Ohio could be fired from their job, kicked out of their apartment, or refused service based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.  

Kent State is remembering a pioneer in the campaign for LGBTQ rights.  The university has announced that Dolores Noll has died at the age of 88.

Michael Chanak Jr. is a gay rights activist who started working for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the mid-1980s. He worked for years to get the company to add a clause to the equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy that protected the rights of gay people against discrimination at the workplace.

Backers of gender equality legislation that’s been proposed again in Ohio say they are making slow headway in getting the civil rights protection they think the bill would afford them.

Alana Jochum with Equality Ohio says civil rights protections for LGBTQ Ohioans are being passed in Ohio’s cities, including recently in Cleveland.

“We have gone from 14 percent of Ohioans from having access to a remedy to 27 percent.”  

The controversy over conservative federal judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to a lifetime position on the U.S. Supreme Court has left many people wondering how the perceived shift in that bench will affect them. LGBTQ Ohioans are concerned.

Chad Griffin with the Human Rights Campaign says the message from his group to LGBTQ voters in Ohio is clear – put the brakes on the Trump administration now.

Cuyahoga County council members will soon decide whether to approve legislation that adds legal protections for LGBTQ residents.

The legislation would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the county’s current anti-discrimination laws. If approved, it would be illegal to deny opportunities like housing and employment to Cuyahoga County residents in the LGBTQ community.

Communications Director Mary Louise Madigan says council members as well as County Executive Armond Budish introduced the legislation in June to promote inclusion and diversity in the county.

The House passed the hotly debated “Pastor Protection” Act Wednesday. Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill would create a way for businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

Republican Nino Vitale has pushed for the “Pastor Protection” Act since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

His bill would allow clergy to refuse to solemnize marriages based on religious beliefs.

Vice President Mike Pence is set to visit Columbus Friday to tout the new federal tax reform plan, but there will be attention on something else outside the venue.

A charter school focused on LGBTQ students will be opening in Lakewood this fall.

Officials at Albert Einstein Academies of Ohio say they design their schools around the needs of the students who enroll. Recently, they’ve noticed an increase in the need for resources among LGBTQ students at their existing campuses in Westlake and Strongsville. Superintendent Bruce Thomas says the new high school will offer wrap-around services for students in Lakewood.

A proposed Ohio law that would ban discrimination for LGBTQ people is seeing a new wave of support. Business groups say sexual orientation and gender identification should be considered protected classes in Ohio.

A coalition of hundreds of businesses is calling on lawmakers to pass the bill. They’re backed by chambers of commerce around the state.

The bill to protect LGBTQ people from housing and employment discrimination is expected to take a big step as a committee prepares to hear from a major supporter, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The bill also seems to be getting support from the top House leader.

For the first time in nearly 10 years, the bill to protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity will get a second hearing.